Dietetic maize tortilla

ABSTRACT

Dietary maize or corn tortilla and method for obtaining such tortilla, comprising first milling the grain and the pericarp of the maize separately, and then nixtamalizing them, also separately, and finally mixing in a proportion of 40-45:60-55 grain/pericarp until a homogeneous mass is obtained which is then taken to a conventional machine for producing tortillas. Such maize tortillas are obtained with the same traditional protein content 8-9%, with half of the fat 0.7-1%, and with the triple of fibre 6-9%, the latter due to the pericarp. They do not contain additives, they last much longer than conventional tortillas, their organoleptic characteristics are better and their resistance to tearing or breaking is higher.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] Centuries ago, the consumption of tortilla in our country has hada preferential place in the nourishment of our people.

[0002] There have been a lot of methods and technics for manufacturingit, so the milling and flouring industries have done, day by day,immeasurable efforts to render more efficient the production processesof nixtamal, dough, flour and finally the tortilla.

[0003] In all nixtamalization cases, the ingredients have always beenwhole corn grain, water, lime and temperature, preserving the nutritiveelements that the grain contains, just increased as regards the foodvalue through calcium ion contained in the lime.

[0004] In the traditional processes for producing it, there are the homeor domestic nixtamalization, the nixtamalization performed in each millof the named national milling industry, considered as a tradition in ourcountry, which takes care of cooking the corn until obtaining thenixtamal, then grinding it in the typical stone mill converting the sameinto dough, to be later delivered to the tortilla shops, where warmtortillas are elaborated and offered to the consumer.

[0005] Our constant technical development since about 50 years ago,originated the national flour industry in Mexico, which takes care ofcooking the corn and obtaining the nixtamal, grinding it this time iniron mills and drying it, obtaining a precooked flour, ready to bedirectly delivered to the tortilla shops, where flour and water are justmixed to obtain the dough with which the hot tortilla is elaborated andoffered to the consumer in the same manner.

[0006] Afterwards, about five years ago as the supply needs changed, thetortilla manufacturers observed the need of providing their productpermanently and without any time restriction or availability to theconsuming public, they designed the first packed tortilla system, thistime in cool condition, constantly available on displaying shelf with anaverage life of one hundred hours.

[0007] However, in order to achieve preserving the tortillaappropriately, according to the old fashioned nixtamalization technics,which were already installed, it was necessary to add large quantitiesof preserving materials, cohesive gums, carboxymethylcellulose,decolorating acids and a number of chemical products that wereinconvenient and even toxic most of the times, when consumed by humanbeings.

[0008] Following the new trends of modern nourishment and the mostrecent discoveries as regards human health, we have achieved a perfectnixtamalization, through a new technology that preseves the protein,reduces the fat, and increases the fiber, in a longer lasting tortillaand without any kind of chemical additives.

[0009] At first we have been able to grind the corn, cooking it then,separately doing the same thing with the corn pericarp or fiber, therebyallowing to increase the contact surface with the lime, until achievinga reaction essentially up to a 100% yield, later mixing the twocookings, being possible to obtain a homogeneous material having a pHbetween 8 and 9 without free radicals, which does not essentiallyrequire the addition of any chemical product for preserving it due toits alkaline condition, its duration being twice than any other materialwhere the acid or alkaline conditions have been the object of variationsor exposures to uncomplete reactions.

[0010] Because of this new technic, the broken corn grain may beprofitable, which has been considered as impossible to be subjected tonixtamalization by the milling and flouring industries until now, inaddition to the fact of taking advantage of the corn pericarp or fiber,which are at present thrown away by such important industries, whichconstitutes a novel utilization of materials considered as useless inevery process for obtaining tortilla, complemented at the same time,just with water, lime and temperature.

[0011] The results, in an average of 25 tests performed with commontortillas from different factories, done with different kinds andvarieties of corn, compared to those of this new technology, have beenconsidered in the next table: TABLE 1 COMMON COMMON DIETETIC % TORILLA#1 TORTILLA #2 TORTILLA Moisture 51.5 49.0 50.1 Protein 8.5 8.9 8.6Fiber 2.3 1.8 6.5 Fat 1.8 1.7 0.8 Ash 1.1 0.9 1.0 Nitrogen Free 34.837.7 33.0 Extract

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

[0012] The invention consists in a dietetic corn tortilla with the sameprotein content than the common one, having 50% less fat and beingricher in fiber three more times, it does not contain sugars, it has ausual carbohydrate level of low calorie content by coming from fibroustissue, it highly enhaces digestion and is fat chelant to make easierthe elimination thereof, it has greater digestibility, much betterflavour, smell or odor, organoleptic characteristics, flexibility andhigher breaking resistante or strenght when covering wet meals, it iscompletely free of preserving materials, cohesive gums,carboxymethylcellulose or chemical products of any kind, being slightlydarker than the common tortilla because of its high fiber content, itcan be preserved twice as long as any other tortilla known until now,and those physicochemical characteristics defines it as a dieteticproduct.

[0013] The process is based on reacting the ingredients by separate,first breaking and grinding the corn grain and separately grinding thecorn pericarp or fiber to perform the nixtamalization, and then, takinginto account their different reaction conditions, proportionally mixingthem later, to obtain a homogeneous dough which will be used formanufacturing the tortilla.

[0014] The particular nixtamalization reaction is carried out underconditions very different than the ones used up to now, this means thatthe corn is first broken and grounded to a constant granulometry withsuch a fineness that 75% thereof as minimum passes through a sieve of0.250 mm mesh screen opening, US-NOM No. 24 M-60, placing it aftewardsin a cylindrical apparatus with movable lid and bottom, provided withrotating blades at a speed between 2 and 5 r.p.m. that shake themixture, adding to it from 0.3 to 0.7% of lime, from 2 to 3 times itsvolume of water and applying a temperature at a range from 60 to 80centigrade degrees, the optimal temperature being 70 grades in themixture, carrying out this operation during a period of time of fromtwenty to thirty minutes without allowing that anything is lost orthrown away.

[0015] Invariably, stoichiometric amounts must be reacted so as not toleave any residue, cooking broth or remaining, which means a completedeletation of polluting wastes, as well as a complete profit of thematerials used in the reaction.

[0016] On the other hand, the corn pericarp or fiber is grounded to thesame granulometry, placing it later in the same cylindrical reactorapparatus with movable lid and bottom, also provided with blades thatthis time rotate at a speed between 6 and 9 r.p.m., but this time onlyfrom 0.2 to 0.4% of lime and from once to twice its volume of water willbe added, applying a temperature within a range from 50 to 70.centigrades degrees, the optimal temperature being of 60 degrees in themixture, maintaining this operation during a period of time from 10 to20 minutes, which points out different nixtamalization conditions foreach ingredient.

[0017] Afterwards blending of both materials already reacted in aproportion between 40-60 and 45-55 regarding corn pericarp will beperformed, carrying out this operation in a specific machine for highprecision dough mixing until obtaining a homogeneous result, taking itlater to a common tortilla manufacturing machine, cooling the resultanttortillas in a filtered air fed band at room temperature and packingthem, if their distribution is for displaying shelf or offering them ina warm condition if their distribution is for immediate consumption.

1. Dietetic corn tortilla with protein content between 8 and 9%,characterized by comprising from 0.7 to 1.0% of fat, from 6 to 9% offiber, from 30 to 33% of carbohydrates with low calorie content byproceeding from fibrous tissue, it does not contain sugar, it hasgreater flexiblity and higher breaking resistant when covering wet mealsby experimental measure and a shelf life of 150 hours.
 2. Process forobtaining a dietetic corn tortilla characterized by nixtamalizing theingredients by separate, firstly grinding the grain and separatelygrinding the fiber to such a fineness that 75% thereof as minimum passesthrough a sieve of 0.250 mm mesh screen U.S. NOM No. 24M-60 fornixtamalizing each one according to its specific temperature andreaction conditions, carrying out a separate nixtamalization in acylindrical reactor with rotating blades, later proportionally mixingboth parts in fine dough mixing equipment which will leave the doughready for manufacturing tortillas.